AuthorTopic: Fall Breaks (Read 4906 times)

I played in hardcore and punk rock bands for over ten years, but all the while I had the ambition to do a pop/singer-songwriter type of project someday. The last few months I finally realized it. I called this project Fall Breaks.

Please listen to these songs and give your honest opinion. I'd sincerely like to know what you love, like, dislike or hate about these songs. Any positive criticism would motivate me and any negative criticism could help me improve.

okay here's my honest opinionfirst track-i like this alot! the guitar is like lacework and there are enough surprising turns that it's not predicable and it holds my interestgood stuffit doesnt really sound derivitive of any other artist either. thats a plusmy criticisms would be that the mix could be a little better - specifically- the female backing vocal could have a little reverb and be a bit lower in the mix. also, i don't know if you're aware that you have a dutch accent ! ! lol

second track-this one was good with the chord changes. very.... hmm whats the word..... well, clever! the changes are clever and interestingi definitely want to hear the drums a bit louder and the vocals slighty lower so they blend with the music morei like the 'you're full of it' line. that caught me in a good wayyeah, with a remix emphasizing the beat -> this could rock very hardd and/or be an easy listening classic

third track-similar reaction to the second track - drums a bit up and vocals a bit down in the mix. also, because groundhog day is already movie title it put an idea in my head that got in the way of me listening objectively - if that makes sense

all in all i enjoyed it. please dont take my criticisms the wrong way. i just think the melodies, playing and singing are there. the weakest part was the mix with some production i could imagine hearing this on an adult rock station- something like the cranberries or dido type of musicyou have a good sound and the fun and good natured approach pour through loud and clearhope that helps and thanks for sharing your stuff

Thanks a whole lot for your comments. I don't take your criticism the wrong way at all. And I like that it reminds you of Dido, because althought I never thought of her as an influence, I'm a big fan of her music.

My comments to your reply:- I'm very glad you think it doesn't sound predicatable. Whenever I write music I have two goals: I want it to sound good, but not predictable.- About the female vocals being high up in the mix: I personally am a big fan of the girl who sings with me on these songs and I asked her to contribute, so I kind of felt obliged to put her pretty far up in the mix. Maybe I went a bit too far there, but it just felt wrong to bury her under my own vocals.- About the Dutch accent: I'm sorry about that. I'll try to work on it. I write and read English a lot, but I very rarely speak it, so it'll need some work.- About the drums not being louder: that's because they're fake. The drums came out of a keyboard and we were a bit embarrassed about that, so we tried to hide it by putting them pretty low in the mix. If we actually had a budget, we probably would've hired a real drummer. But this is just a demo, so we had to settle for the keyboard.- The mix was done by someone who I personally think is a far better musicial than I am. So I compromised a bit here and let him have his way.

Ok...this is through my lap-top speakers though so it's going to be a bit bass light.

Pacific Ocean Black.Great sounding acoustic guitar intro....The accents are obviously there but not too offensive, even with accents, as long as the 2 vocal parts remain tight. It has great space. Tidy.

Eleven ElevenNot diggin the electric guitar sound at the beginning and I hear what your saying about the kit. Nice full chorus, pleasant melody. The guitar effects improve in the instrumental. The guitar sound after the instrumental seems better...is it different?

Groundhog dayMakes me think that acoustic led with this project is the way to go to help the vocals and lyrics do the work. Rich sound. Nice harmonies and the accent isn't as prominent. Nice lyrical sentiment repeated at the end.

The vibe in general reminds me of the band The Magic Numbers a little bit. Not a bad thing at all.

I agree that acoustic works better. 'Eleven Eleven' also started as an acoustic song but I made it electric because I thought it would be nice to have a bit more diversity. In hindsight it probably would've been better acoustic.

I recorded the basic tracks for three new Fall Breaks songs last Saturday. They're going to sound different from the first three songs. I'm working with another producer now, we're going for a more pure and organic acoustic sound, and I took a different approach as a songwriter this time. My earlier songs centered around the guitar parts, currently I'm focussing more on the vocal lines. I hope I can post the results sometime next month.

It's wonderful, Joost. I'm listening right now to it, I'm on the 3rd track.I like it very much, just my type of music. Is that you singing on voice? The acoustic sounds great and the lyrics are sweet and they fit wonderful along with the acoustic.They kinda seem like the type of lyrics I've been trying to write for 2 years or so, but never succeded. What's the meaning behind the name of the album? And what about the picture? Are you gonna release the album? I think you should. Already on the 5th track.

It's wonderful, Joost. I'm listening right now to it, I'm on the 3rd track.I like it very much, just my type of music. Is that you singing on voice? The acoustic sounds great and the lyrics are sweet and they fit wonderful along with the acoustic.They kinda seem like the type of lyrics I've been trying to write for 2 years or so, but never succeded. What's the meaning behind the name of the album? And what about the picture? Are you gonna release the album? I think you should. Already on the 5th track.

Thanks a lot!

Yeah, the male voice is me. I called the album 'Slow' because I used to play much faster music in punk and hardcore bands for eleven years, and because half of the songs on the album were written between five and ten years ago. So 'Slow' seemed like a fitting title in two different ways. I took that picture on the cover during a coffee break while driving through southern Mexico a few years ago. I'm planning to send some promo's to a few indie record labels, but if nothing happens I'll probably just have some copies made for friends, family and anyone else who might be interested.